Being Free
by Moniella
Summary: "You seem to have a little friend following you," the girl said, staring back at me. I had hoped she wouldn't notice until Erza said something. This new confrontation made me a little nervous. How do I react? I had never talked to anyone outside of the tower in years. All I could think of doing at the moment was smiling.
1. Jellal the Two-Faced Liar

When Drelle Justine was younger she always wanted to be a princess. She wanted her knight in shining armor to come and save her from peril, from sitting in a tower for all eternity, wake her from her eternal sleep, or so many other cliché romance movies including a womanizing prince and princesses with an unbinding fate.

She wanted to wear a fancy dress that would impress her prince charming into saving her from the tower that held her hostage.

However, this was not what her younger self had thought it would be.

A small cell she shared with about five others, four boys and one girl named Willow, her only friend. Willow was of a tall structure with curly and short jade hair that shined with a purpose. Her red eyes were warm and inviting, and Drelle loved her dearly. She was the best friend anyone could wish for, even under their living conditions.

There was no furniture, no comfy bed, nothing that would begin to describe luxury.

Even a barrel would be luxury to her, she wouldn't care. She would take that over this any day.

The onliest thing present in that room were chains, chains that would bind someone to the wall if misbehaving. She had only have it happen once, but even she wasn't stupid enough to keep continuing to act up after the pain she went through. It was a surprise that she was even standing after what they did.

Drelle had hit one of the guards over the head with a shovel she was using because he grabbed at her, sexually, and she didn't want to have to be forced into the sort. For a few nights she was chained to that wall without food or water, waiting for her torture to be throated down on her.

When Willow wasn't working she was by Drelle's side, comforting and reassuring her.

Later in that week they strapped her knees to a table and her hands tied behind a large steel beam. She stranger and begged for them to let go, but they wouldn't listen.

Every minute someone would place a brick under her feet, elevating her calves but not her thighs, leaving to discomfort. Every minute they tried to get her to crack and beg Zeref for forgiveness. She didn't listen until she heard her knees snap like a rubber band, her shrill and sore voice screaming for forgiveness from that devil god Zeref.

She didn't care how much torture she, Drelle Justine, youngest of two siblings, had to endure. It only meant that she would be stronger in the end. Stronger than any of them! When she got out of here she would kill them, she would kill them all.

Even now she was practicing her magic, the Justine family specialty: Dark Écriture. So far she wasn't very successful with it, but when she was, she would break from this place.

Willow had caught her one night in the middle of training, surprised that the girl even knew magic.

She herself could use it : the power to slay a dragon, dragon slayer magic. Hers was earth. Knowing the information, the two started to plot escape.

She had no courage at the moment to fight, to stand up to them. It wasn't until one of the other children had done so. Her name was Erza Scarlet, one of the kids from a nearby cell.

The girl had wanted to bring back her best friend Jellal, one of the ones that even Drelle herself admired. He had guts to stand up to them like that, especially to save Erza and Shō, whom she amorously had a crush on.

Drelle was only a year older than her but the latetr was larger in size than she was. Erza reached about the height of four foot ten while Drelle herself was about four inches shorter than her.

The girl had beautiful scarlet locks, truely fitting the last name Scarlet. Her right eye was wounded and covered with a patch to keep from any more injury than possible. During the fight she wire the regular clothes the slaves wore, now only underneath a thin plate of metal armor. Somehow it looked best on her, despite being makeshift.

She fought by Erza gratefully, using one of the swords from the guards to fight her way through. She did well, using Dark Écriture almost as well as her older brother had done when she was younger.

Freed. She missed him more than anything. What did she do to deserve being pulled away from him? Or what about her parents Liberty and Llweyn?

Those thoughts were erased because soon she would be free, free to see them again. She could be with them forever and ever, joining a magic guild, learning to love herself, etc.

Oh, what it would be like to have a normal life!

Erza told the others and her to stay behind and run to the boats, and all of them loyally agreed.

The boats stayed for hours and hours, waiting for Erza, but she never came. Drelle almost went after her, but Willow kept her from going and doing so. She understood the circumstances well, about to reply to her fellow green haired friend when an explosion went off into the background.

Willow jumped at her, pushing her into the water to barely have Drelle miss the explosion. The latter's legs were burned beyond repair, but she knew from then she would forever be in debt for Willow saving her life.

It was then did Jellal tell all of them Erza had destroyed all the boats and leaving herself, telling them of the fake peace that the tower could bring.

* * *

"A weakling like you couldn't make it in Fairy Tail."

"Yeah? Why that dumb guild? What's so special about it anyway? Wouldn't it be so much better to just grow up as a in other? Or the royal army?"

"Why not that, you nerd? They could use bait like you in the royal army."

Seven months. It has been seven cold, long months since Drelle disappeared.

Freed was only ten when his sister was forced away from him. Their parents were sent away on a business trip as one of the richest families in Magnolia, leaving Freed to watch after his younger sister Drelle. He loved her more than anything and always would, no matter how much he told himself she annoyed him to no end.

He would have been devastated if something were to happen to his sister, and he honestly was when she was forced away by men in masks and dark coats.

They had broken in a night before Freed's parents were scheduled to return. The two hid in a room where they thought they would be safe, but the men had soon found them.

Back then, Freed was a coward. He didn't enjoy being hurt or taking action in fights. That night changed him, though.

"Ellie," he whispered softly as his sister, currently seven, sobbed quietly in his arms. "All will be okay."

"No it won't," she mustered through sobs. "They'll kill us, Freed! It's either we give them whatever they want or have our lives ended!" By that point Ellie had toned down her sobs, now sitting quietly as she occasionally sobbed in his arms.

Freed had to act like the older brother he was, but he couldn't, starting to break and sob himself as the door was close to breaking.

Drelle had been sitting several minutes in silence, clearly deep in thought. She even had pulled away from her brother, desperately trying to figure out something.

When a hand from one of the men could be reached through, Drelle pushed Freed back against the wall suddenly, the latest hitting his back on the wall and knocking the breath from his chest. When he regained himself shortly, he tried to go towards her, an invisible wall blocking him from her. Orange enchantments danced around his first as he continued to pound on it.

"Ellie!" he screamed, tears running from his blue eyes as he stared in horror. "Ellie, what are you doing!? Remove this right now!"

She smiled at him, tears falling from her emerald orbs. "I won't let them hurt you, big brother Freed! You don't need me to live on. You have friends, you have people that care about you. I won't let these people take your future away from you."

She sounded too heroic when she talked. What was with her all of a sudden? Freed didn't know, he couldn't figure it out. "What about your friends? What about your future?" he yelled at her, the smile on her slender lips growing even wider. She shook, a sob escaping along her once more.

"Just please, Freed... Live your life for me as if we'll meet once more, okay? It won't be long before I see you once more," she told him, not screaming or turning her gaze from him as they grabbed her and threw her over a large shoulder. The only movement she showed was a small smile on her lips and a few crystal like tears running from her eyes. "I promise, big brother."

* * *

Even now, as a 22 year old Freed Justine, that scene haunted him. It plagued him every night, making him wake up randomly and be forced to experience the memory over and over and over.

He never told anyone of her, not even the Raijinshuu. Laxus had known, but Freed doubted the stubborn blonde remembered. It was ten years ago, after all.

She was the reason he joined Fairy Tail as a mage; he needed resources to do so.

"Ellie," he whispered, pounding his first against the table randomly. The new girl in the guild reminded him of her too much out hurt. He earned a few stares from Bickslow and Ever, but he didn't say anything, his green brows furrowed into a scowl look. "Where did you go?"


	2. Welcome to Fairy Tail

I had never in my life experienced so much betrayal and yet so much fulfillment, yet I knew it all would happen. I knew someday Jellal's lies would crumble and we would be freed once wasn't that kind of person and we all knew it, we all did. So why were the others surprised when we all found Jellal was a liar?It wasn't like he was a good liar. He was a very good liar, enough to keep people straining for freedom from leaving the place that caused so much misery and despair to thousands of people. It caused the death of hundreds, took away the freedom of thousands, and yet he expected us to stay like if we were as gullible as we looked.I know Simon, for one, didn't believe it. He didn't believe Erza would do such a thing. He loved her to much to be blinded by Jellal's empty lies.

Hell, I only knew her once, and that was enough to tell a certain someone was lying. Tricking us and shaping us into loyal beings. But one thing has always unsettled me...

What I didn't understand was the reason why Jellal stayed. If anything, out of everyone, Jellal hated the place the most. He tried escaping everyday, he talked back to the guards, he was the one who originally saved Erza. So why did he stay?The pieces never did fit together. They never clicked even if I thought they loyally I played along, pretending to be a pawn for Jellal's game of life or death. If he knew what I was planning he would have killed me by now, meaning he didn't was my idea to bring Erza to the tower as a sacrifice. Jellal completely had not thought of Erza until I mentioned her name, and if he did, he was superb at hiding his emotions. I loosened her chains so she could slip free and had Shō watch her. If she couldn't get free from the chains she could at least have someone weak watching guard. Someone else could have smothered here I was, standing with my sword lunged towards her, preparing to stab her in her chest as she was caught in my runes. Jellal was watching us, that I was certain of.

"You've gotten quite well at this magic thing, haven't you, Erza? I still remember the day you found the strength to mutilate those guards." Drelle grinned, licked her lips and tried to portray the sadistic act. She thought that if she went like that, Jellal would appeal more to her, and she was right. "It's too bad it wasn't...enough."

"You'll never catch me in your trap," Erza yelled to me, her eyes full of anger and distaste for me. The girl I admired, sitting here, trapped, by my own hands. What was I doing?

I had always loved Erza like a sibling since she left. She had wanted to help everyone achieve freedom. And yet we repay her like this? After all of her sacrifice? How many years did she suffering, knowing that we were still trapped on this island, building a tower that caused so many people loss, pain, and sadness?

I stared into her eyes, seeing the flame of distrust and hate towards me. What had Jellal done to me? Why couldn't I stop this now? Why couldn't I drop my weapon and explain myself? She was hear now. We could escape now. We wouldn't have to stay locked up inside of this magical revival system any longer. We could be free from the curse of Zeref and the worry of being killed by Jellal any time now for a mistake. We could finally live the free life we deserve so badly. Especially after being stolen from our friends, our lovers, our families. We deserved a respect higher than any god.

With hesitancy I dropped the rune barrier. Orange script magic fluttered away, and I put my sword back inside of it's hilt. "It's time I tell you everything, Erza."

* * *

I smiled over at Erza as she pushed open two large doors to what I assumed was the guild hall she had been talking and praising the whole time. All I ever heard from her was how amazing this guild was. How much I would love this place. How much I would fit in. I could have real friends, a real life. Jobs. I could study magic I never even heard of before.

And the one thing I hadn't told her: I could look for my brother.

It had been years upon years since I had seen him last. Ever since they took me away that night. Took me from the arms of my crying and afraid brother. The one I sacrificed a life of love and happiness for. Yet I don't regret it a single minute.

"Are you ready, Drelle? You look quite pale standing there," Erza asked in a friendly tone, her beautiful eyes staring in to mind. The eyes of a friend who cared about me.

"I'm perfectly fine, Erza. It's just a little hard for me to get over the fact that I'll be joining a real guild. And especially this one! My father was in this guild. We used to live in a large house right outside the skirts of Magnolia," I replied, the nostalgia filling me. I remembered days when he would bring my brother and I to the guild hall with him, showing us around and introducing us to all of the other guild members. When he was there, it was just two children, a man named Gildarts, the Guildmaster, and a few others that came through. I would still remember them if I saw them, though.

"Was he now? I didn't know that," she responded, starting to walk ahead of me into the guild hall. I could see the faces of everyone drop when she entered. The guild was still loud, but there was still an eerie quietness amoung the members. There was nothing about it that I remember. It had a lot more space, and better yet, it looked as if it had been remolded not long ago.

"Erza!" someone called to her. She turned to face the source of the sound, only for me to be standing near a young white haired female that couldn't have been any older than Erza herself. "You're back! Isn't the new guild hall just lovely? We finished it while you were gone." She had a polite nature around her. I couldn't help but smile.

"It's quite charming, though some how it's missing a homely feature to it, if I'm not mistaken...it's just not like it used to be," she said with a dramatic expression, a sigh escaping her lips. "However, it's not an eye sore, I can tell you that."

"You seem to have a little friend following you," the girl said, staring back at me. I had hoped she wouldn't notice until Erza said something. This new confrontation made me a little nervous. How do I react? I had never talked to anyone outside of the tower in years. All I could think of doing at the moment was smiling.

"Yes, Mira, this is Drelle," she introduced me, turning herself halfway in between the girl Mira and I. "She was at the tower with me, as you may have already heard from master Makarov. She said she wanted to join Fairy Tail after Natsu had told her so much about it."

"Oh, is that so? I swear, Natsu could recruit almost anybody with his optimistic attitude," Mira said, directed towards me with a chuckle. "Don't you think? Isn't he quite the character?"

I stood there dumbfounded for a moment, only managing the small sentence in a soft voice, "um...yes...very optimistic indeed." I felt embarrassment rush through me like an electric shock. I probably looked foreign to everybody else here.

Mirajane chuckled sweetly at me, putting an arm on my shoulder and staring me in the eye. "There's no need to be shy or nervous around here. We may all seem crazy, but we're one big happy family. Everybody will love you, I swear. Now come on, how about I give you a guild mark to officially welcome you. We could even introduce you in front of everybody!" The green hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention, making my face turn as red as Erza's beautiful scarlet locks.

"Now, now, Mira, let's not over do it quite yet. They'll meet her in time," Erza said, saving me from an embarrassing doom. As Mira pulled me off towards a bar counter, Erza gave me a small smile and a wink. She knew that I would be fine on my own. I knew it too, but the place I thought I knew wasn't how I knew it and it unsettled me even more.

"What color would you like?" she asked, pulling out a stamper. I had to think it over for a few seconds before finally deciding.

"Orange," I replied in a soft voice. "Like the color of a vibrant s-sunset." Oh god that sounded so corny.

"Alright then," Mira replied with a smile. "Where would you like it?"

Again, more questions for me to decide. I just hoped this wasn't a permanent thing.

I struggled to think of where to put it, but then I remembered where my dad had kept his mark. I decided on that.

"Right below my ear on my neck," I answered, pulling some of my green hair out of the way so Mira could stamp the guild mark on my pale skin. It left a small burn, but the mark glowed and became marked on my skin.

"The mark will fade away whenever you leave Fairy Tail or join another guild officially. Only by documentation, however. It won't disappear if you only vocally claim you're taking a leave. You have to be banished by a guild master or asked to quit directly," she explained, a smile never leaving her face. It seemed like such a warm, motherly smile. She reminded me of my own mother. "And I'm sorry for not properly introducing myself. My name is Mirajane Strauss. I'm a mage, but I usually just serve as the assistant guild master. I'm also an S-Class wizard. If you ever need any help, don't hesitate to ask me."

I nodded simply and forced an awkward smile, causing her to return the warm gesture. "Job posters are on the board over there," she said, pointing to a bulletin board full of papers, complete with a guy looking through them. "I'm usually stationed over here by the bar area. Upstairs are the S-Class missions, but you can't accept one without an S-Class mage accompanying you on it. It used to be that you had to be an S-Class like Erza, Laxus and I."

I nodded again at her information. She nodded back and headed back behind the bar area, leaving me alone and stranded in the corner. This would probably become my new home before to long. I wasn't the social butterfly kid, even when I was younger. I was the strategist, the one who was always left to herself at the nerd table. I was also always teased a lot.

I thought I wasn't going to fit it. But that was before I spotted him from across the room.

The only one that mattered.

Freed Justine, my brother.


	3. Corny Reunion

At least, I think it was him. He had the same hair as my brother when he was younger. The color was the same, he had the mole, the lightning bolt like cow-licks. He looked like such a gentleman. If that was him, how old was he now? If I were to be turning twenty here soon, would he be 21? No, I think he would be at least 22...It was past his birthday for this year.

I felt a sense of guilt wash over me. Would he remember me? Would he know I survive? How much did he suffer because of me? Did he ever look for me? What happened to our parents? All of these questions flooded my mind as I thought about the chance of him still remembering me and loving me.

If he still did, I didn't deserve it. I should have been a better sister and come back sooner than I did. I should have came back with Erza when she escaped. I should have reunited with her years ago. And yet I didn't, leaving him to suffer.

Over where he was sitting, there was a young, beautiful woman with brown hair and glasses. Her complexion went perfectly with her green dress and wings that were dangling from her back. They looked as if she could get up and fly at any moment. Like a graceful fairy queen.

The other one was a young man with a slotted knight's mask with dorky looking clothing. Five totem pole like dolls floated around his head, repeating important words from whatever he said.

That guy was also the one to point to her, talking at Freed, about me staring at him. Quickly I turned my chair to face the other wall, pretending I never was looking at them. I didn't even know them! Well, I didn't know two of them, at least.

I heard someone come up behind me, but I wasn't sure who. With my luck it was one of those three, asking me if I had a crush on Freed or something.

Instead, Lucy came up behind me and tapped me on my shoulder. She was smiling brightly, her smile encouraging me to smile. "You're a member of Fairy Tail now, right?" she asked me. In a response I moved some green hair from my neck, showing her the orange mark to prove my acceptance.

"Hey, that's great! You'll fit in perfectly here. We're all like one family," she said to me, pushing blonde locks away from her eyes. "I wasn't sure at first I fit in here, but then everybody showed me that I was just as accepted as the next person. They care about you, even though they don't know you yet. There's no need to be nervous."

That's the second person today to tell me this. Obviously, if they think it's safe, I can call it safe. For now, at least. I was horrible at socializing. It came as an unnecessary trait for someone to have. Over confidence in communication. It lead to mistakes in movements and mistakes in every day activities. Where I was raised, you couldn't afford that. A mistake meant punishment. Punishment was something you didn't want.

There was no one to converse with in the Tower of Heaven anyhow. Everyone was always too busy trying to prepare for a sacrifice, and before that it was that we weren't even the finished the tower. Though some of us got special treatment, we still had to work none the less. It was Lord Zeref's will, after all. The more you worked the more likely it was for you to live forever in peace with the dark lord.

"I'm just bad at socializing, that's all," I responded, giving back a friendly smile.

"Hey, I could show you around if you want? We could explore, at least. This guild hall was finished while we were gone, so we could figure out things together."

I thought about it for a minute. It may be the best course of action to befriend Lucy. She seemed like an asset to this guild, and could be a valuable friend to me if I ever needed one. She could also help me on jobs.

"Alright. Let's do it then," I replied, giving her a small laugh. "I want to go downstairs first. Maybe they'll have exciting activities down there."

Lucy nodded, readily agreeing. "Sure, let's go there first before the hall starts to become messy and disorganized. Fighting happens here a lot."

Didn't she just say that they were all family? Family members don't fight and try to kill each other. "U-uhm..."

"Don't worry, it's more of a friendly thing. We like to challenge each other to see who's stronger. I didn't understand it at first either, but now I join in sometimes," Lucy said rubbing my shoulder to calm me. "Again, you have nothing to worry about while you're here in Fairy Tail."

I nodded and began towards the set of stairs going down into the basement. What I expected was something creepy. What I got was a full out game room. On one side there was a giant pool table. Air hockey, Foosball, a large TV. Through one of the doors there was even a pool! A large one at that. Wouldn't that be fun to swim in?

In another room there were beds lined up against the wall, a medical cart in the middle of the room. "I guess you guys even have an infirmary. That's a good idea."

"We didn't used to, but after the war we barely won against Phantom Lord, we decided on keeping a place for those who end up wounded in battles. So far, I don't think anybody has used it yet." Lucy closed the door as we left the infirmary room, heading back into the game area. There was a man with spiky white hair playing Pool with someone with vibrant orange hair, and another with black hair.

"Loke!" Lucy called, the orange haired one responding to his name.

"Oh, hey Lucy. I hope you didn't mind I come here, after all. I came on my own accord, so it shouldn't effect your magic," he responded, spinning the cue stick around in his fingers.

"I don't mind. It's your guild too, Loke," she replied with a smile, as always. She was so cheerful it's contagious. "But hey, meet our newest member of Fairy Tail!"

"Yeah, I've seen her. Drelle, right? I've seen her while watching to protect you. She seems pretty cool. If I weren't so devoted to you Lucy, I might just give her a try~" he teased, earning a growl from Lucy.

"Jeez, you're making it seem like we're a couple, which we're not," Lucy groaned, stepping more towards me as a way to get away from him.

The white haired man from earlier hit the yellow one into the pocket. He turned to grin at me.

"I'm Elfman. Welcome to Fairy Tail. You've probably already met her, but Mirajane is my older sister," he said. "I bet you're more of a man than anyone else here!"

"I beg your pardon?" I asked, a bit freaked out by what he had just said, until Loke kindly explained.

"He has a thing about manliness. He's not calling you a guy, he's complimenting you on your strength," he whispered, making me oh in response.

"But, thanks for the welcome anyway, Elfman. Your sister is very nice," I responded awkwardly. The next guy looked at me and smiled the same way.

"I'm Macao. Wakaba will be right back, but you'll meet him soon enough. Welcome to Fairy Tail," he said, giving me a welcome smile. "Just beware of Natsu, he can be a little crazy."

"Oh, I know," I responded, giving him a smile back. "I watched him knock down a giant lachrima crystal earlier this week."

"Sounds just like him," he responded, getting ready to hit his white ball with the cue stick. By his angle I could tell he was going for either green or red. Green would be the most obvious choice telling by how close it is to the white ball and the angle the projectile would hit it. It would knock it into the hole every time if he angled it to the left a little more.

"But c'mon, Drelle, let's go see other changes. We could even look upstairs now." I nodded to her, following after her as we went back into the main hall. As we got there, I saw that it wasn't as busy and crowded, leaving a few tables from before empty. The guy I thought was Freed was gone from his spot too, leaving his two friends. I felt upset that I missed my opportunity,

Or so I thought I did. When I turned to follow Lucy again, he was there, right in front of me, looking down at my face.

"They say it's rude to stare," he said nonchalantly, as if we'd known each other for years. "But I'm glad you did." I soon found myself being pulled against his chest, arms tightening around me. "I missed you, Drelle."

So he did remember me, then. I'm more than happy that he remember my name. It made me joyous and privileged that I could reunite with my brother after years of separation.

"I missed you too, Freed." I smiled to myself as I continued to hold onto him, breathing in the smell that reminded me of when he was younger. He still smelled the same, looked the same. I just hoped he acted the same.

"You came back. I thought you never would," he said, burying his face in my hair. I felt like the whole guild was staring at us, but I didn't care for a second. They didn't know me anyway. Neither would I really let them anyway. I wasn't a friendly person. I didn't say everything about me when I met somebody. You earned that privilege of a long perioud of time.

"I did though, didn't I? After years of struggling to escape, I'm here," I told him, earning another smile from him. If we weren't in public, I knew he would be sobbing. It was taking everything he had not to, I could tell by his body position.

"And now I can stop searching for my missing half."


End file.
